Balochistan government urges Gwadar residents to end weeks-long protest over rights

KARACHI: A senior official in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province said on Tuesday the government had made progress on all demands presented by protestors in Gwadar port city while urging them to end their prolonged sit-in.
Protest in Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar city, which is at the heart of a multibillion-dollar regional connectivity project being carried out by China and Pakistan, has been going on for the last three weeks in which its residents have been demanding their basic rights.
At least four rounds of talks have been held between the officials of Balochistan and protestors since the beginning of the sit-in, one of them led by Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, the provincial minister for planning and development, who said the government, civil administration and notables of the area had been constantly in touch with the demonstrators.
The residents of Gwadar, who are mostly associated with the fishing industry and benefit from border trade, have been seeking, among other things, an action against illegal fishing trawlers in their waters, opening of border with Iran and removal of unnecessary checkpoints in their area.
“They presented twelve demands, four of them were major while others were minor,” Buledi told Arab News. “There has been progress on almost all the twelve demands: Trawling has decreased in the sea to a great extent, the border trade management system has improved and the issue of check posts has been largely addressed.”
He said the Balochistan administration had undertaken several development projects for Makran division, adding that major changes would soon become visible.
However, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, a Jamaat-e-Islami politician who has been leading the protest, said the provincial authorities had met some of the minor demands but major ones were yet to be fulfilled.
“There is some progress but our major issues still remain outstanding,” he told Arab News. “There is no progress on border trade, no action against the trawler mafia and our demand regarding checkpoints have not been fulfilled as well.”
“We will have a major protest on December 10 since we do not have any hope they will implement the notification regarding our major issues,” he added. “The Balochistan government is striving but is unable to resolve our problems. Probably, it is not in their hands.”
Gwadar is located in Pakistan’s impoverished southwestern Balochistan province, a sparsely populated, mountainous, desert region bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
China is involved in the development of the Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea as part of a $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is itself part of China's Belt and Road infrastructure project. But locals of the city have long complained the Chinese presence and investment in the area have done little to improve their lives, particularly with regards to water scarcity and jobs.
Last month, thousands of women marched on the streets of Gwadar, demanding basic rights and action against illegal trawling in the Arabian Sea.
Speaking to Arab News on Tuesday, Sameera Siddique, a woman leader of the protesters said the provincial leaders were unable to resolve the issue which had forced women to become part of the protest.
“A mother can tolerate anything but not the hunger of her children, she can bear anything but not that her brother becomes a drug addict and her people are humiliated at the check posts,” Siddique said, adding she is expecting more women in the December 10 protest.
Zainab Aslam, a student and activist, said Gwadar was never seen from the lens of the locals and a very beautiful picture of the city was presented to the outside world.
“There is another picture as well where its residents face problems, issues and non-provision of basic rights,” she continued. “We are protesting for the last twenty days that our sources of income should not be snatched away from us. Our men go in the morning to the sea and border area and return with empty hands. The rulers cannot even begin to imagine our pain.”